Ask a CCCS counsellor a question

CCCS_Matthew

kimbo_frog wrote: »

Hi I have been with CCCS for over a year now...
I have now got to do a new budget with you...

The only problem I now have is that my income will be going down in march and I have worked out that I will be have less coming in and more going out due to increased bills etc

So I wont actually have the amount available to pay CCCS...

Im in a panic...as I have no choice about this change in income and it will end up leaving me in minus figures.

I cant find any way of reducing my budget...

What happens if the funds are not available?
Whats the next steps?

Thanx in advance

Kim

Hi Kim.

Try not to panic, you definitely need to be open about your situation otherwise you will end up struggling to maintain payments towards the DMP.

If the DMP is no longer an option for you, the counsellor will discuss where that leaves you with your options and provide you with the relevent advice and paperwork to do it. Don't worry, we won't just leave you to get on with it.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Sarah

enaid wrote: »

I rang customer services at CCCS last week on behalf of my son. He was present and gave his permission for me to speak to the CSA.
I was questioning why CCCS had started paying a DCA as the debt was in dispute and therefore couldn't be passed on.
He told me in no uncertain terms that I was wrong as the account had been defaulted and therefore the bank could sell it on.
This debt has been in dispute for over 12 months and is made up purely of charges on an O/D, so when I told him this his reply was "You can't pick and choose who you pay the debt to". That we must write to the bank and ask them to take the debt back. This I have done but have so far not received a reply.
I would just like to know who tells CCCS that the debt has gone to a DCA?
Because before the letter and a payment book was sent to us we had no idea.
Thanks in advance

Hi enaid,

As I don’t have the account in front of me I would be unable to give a specific answer, however, generally the collection agencies tend to get in touch and advise they have taken over the debt.

Hope this helps

CCCS_Sarah

Dan.M wrote: »

Hello,

I have been in contact with CCCS they have told me to send letters to my creditors regarding the Token payment.

What happens next? when am i likely to end up on a DMP? I have low income at the moment, do I pay this token payment until I have more income to pay more off my bills?

Worried,

Dan.

Hi Dan,

A debt management plan is only offered when this is best advice. As you are only making token payments at the moments sounds like there is not enough surplus for a DMP. If your situation improves then this is something that then can be considered.

I would recommend as soon as there is a change in your circumstances give us a call back, and then we can re look at your options.

Sarah

CCCS_Matthew

supertracy wrote: »

hi

i have just recieved a letter though the post addressed to The Occupier.

then further in the letter it is saying it is attempting to contact me at my address about a personal matter.

i hace googled this company and found out that they are a debet collection agency.
i have no outstanding debet (apart from one loan that was over 15 years ago) and have credit cards and loan that are paid each year.

what should i do. please can anyone offer some advise.

Hi Tracy,

If you're confident you don't owe anyone anything then you don't need to do anything. The fact that they've sent a letter to "the occupier" suggests that they don't know your name, so it does make you wonder how they think you owe them a debt without even knowing who you are?

The OFT debt collection guidelines actually state that it's unreasonable to send demands to "The Occupier"

sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that
they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery
action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing
the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the
correct debtor will be made.

So if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it the chances are they probably know you don't owe anything and are just trying their luck. If they persist, write them a letter accepting no liabilty for their claim and threaten to contact the OFT if they carry on.

Hope this helps,
Matthew.

CCCS_Matthew

Dan.M wrote: »

Hello,

I have been in contact with CCCS they have told me to send letters to my creditors regarding the Token payment.

What happens next? when am i likely to end up on a DMP? I have low income at the moment, do I pay this token payment until I have more income to pay more off my bills?

Worried,

Dan.

Hi Dan,

If we've suggested token payments, then it would have meant a DMP couldn't be offered due there simply not being enough money available after you've paid your priorities. Once your situation has improved we would encourage you to get back in contact with us to discuss whether a DMP is possible.

Try not to worry, you can't be expected to pay out more than you can afford to your creditors.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Sarah

Churchpolly wrote: »

Hi, I am researching whether business rates are applicable under the six year Liability for Debts and Limitation Act? If a group of small semi rural businesses were undercharged on their rates bills for say 20 years and the council discovered the mistake and tried to charge them the difference for the whole period, plus interest, would they be able to? thanks . Polly

I’m unsure to be honest with this referring to business debts. I would advise you contact Business Debtline. This link will take you directly to their website http://www.bdl.org.uk/

CCCS_Sarah

DonutUK wrote: »

I have just received my first CCJ, for a debt going back 5 yrs.

I am in a DMP and the company who manages it says they were going to send a budget form to the court so that when my case was heard they could set a monthly payment (i had to send the court forms to the DMP company once i had completed them).

On the judgement it says that the claimant objected to the rate of payment offered, so the Judge has ordered me to pay it in full, which i have no hope of doing.
I have a strong suspicion that the DMP company never sent the forms in, or that they used an out of date income/expenditure because i have recently updated my monthly budget and the claimants pro rata payment went up by 50%.

What do i do next? I have no hope of paying the amount in full (approx £2500) and i have other debts totalling approx £22k. The DMP also includes my wifes debts which also total approx £22k, but we are separated. I am still paying for both, as we still live in the same house, because neither of us could afford to move out, and there are kids involved.

This particular creditor is the only one who refused to accept the payment offer of the DMP, every other creditor accepted it.

If the court have asked for the payment in full as they have objected to the monthly payment. You would need to complete a form called an N244 and ask for a hearing to put forward your case. There will be a fee for this depending on your circumstances, this could be up to £70. You would be able to get a copy of this form from your local court or off the courts website.

Hope you get this sorted.

Sarah

sledgeally

Hi there wondering whether anyone has any wise words of help. Last year i lost my job and had considerable debts of approx 25 thousand. Due to this and other factors my partner and i split around xmas. we owned a house together and things became very strained. Due to the marketplace and the fact that houses are not selling we decided that the only way forward was for one or the other to buy the others share. She could not raise any funds but we agreed a figure of 18 thousand that my mother was prepared to pay on my behalf. Unfortunately due to my lack of work the mortgage company insisted the mortgage be cleared before they would remove my ex partners name. My mother managed to get hold of enough funds to do this and now i have a mortgage at the land registry with her. My problems are my debts other than this mortgage are approx 30 thousand and interest just keeps adding up on them. Everyone i talk to just tells me `why dont you just go bankrupt` whilst this may be an answer i am not a quitter and do take my responsibilties seriously i am just in the situation where i cannot pay not one where i wont. Some members of my family have offered to help but only to get rid of a debt completely but the type of money they have would not clear the whole of debts. Someone has told me about part settlements and negotiating with creditors ( whom are nearly all credit cards ). Could anyone tell me whether such things exist and what the rules/laws are to me attempting these negotiations on my own. Sorry for the long post but i really am lost as to where to start on this journey. I mean GE capital (Topman card ) told me they would accept £5 per week for 27 weeks to clear my £134.65 debt to them. I accepted this and asked for it in writing instead today i have received papers from court to say they are trying to drag me through court for this, bemusing me why i spent half an hour talking to them in the first place.

CCCS_Matthew

moneymaker2 wrote: »

hi, I have several debts that I am making reduced monthly payments on. I am due a bonus in March and wanted to clear some of them off in full. How much is a reasonable amount to offer them under the balance of the account to try and agree them to clear it off in full.

Thanks in advance.
Laura

Hi Laura,

You might want to contact them before hand just to get an idea of what kind of settlement they are prepared to offer you straight away. Generally though, I would suggest perhaps starting your offer around about 50% of the balance and work your way up.

Regards,
Matthew.

CCCS_Sarah

sgja4385336 wrote: »

Hi, just wanted a second opinion.

I set up a dmp dec 07 with Payplan. Total debt £53k paying back £316.39 pm. Most creditors are happy and have accepted the payments.

However MBNA moved my a/c to DCRI who have askes for me to either increase my £82 payment upto £215 pm or they will pass on the account to another company who are likely to ask for a charge on my property.

What will this mean to me if they pass on the account?

help and advice needed thanks

Hello,

Just looking at the figures you have provided it will take you around 14 years to clear the debt if the creditors agree to stop the interest and charges so this is quite along time, so I would recommend you see if there are any other options available to reduced the term down. Alternatively, is there any areas in your budget you could reduce or could you increase your income? As this would also reduce the term.

If they do decide to pass the debt on to a collection agency, this is nothing to be worried about as collection agencies don’t have anymore power than the original creditor, you would just have to let Payplan know and they will change who they are paying.

Charging Orders are quite often used as a scare tactic, I would recommend that you continue making your payments as Charging Orders can only be granted at the stage of a CCJ – but there is no guarantee that the creditors will take it this far anyway. If a charging order was to go ahead, this would sit on the equity of the house until the house is sold and then the creditor would get their share back once the sale has been completed. There are also ways to defend a charge if this was to come up.